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Alain Menu
|birth = 9/8/1963 |debut = Silverstone 1992 |champs = 2 (1997, 2000) |wins = 36 |teams = Team M Mobile Renault Dealer Racing Williams Renault Dealer Racing Ford Team Mondeo VX Racing |no = 9 |currentteam = CHROME Edition Restart Racing}} Alain Menu is a Swiss born racing driver, competing in the 2014 edition of the BTCC.http://www.btcc.net/driver/alain-menu/ Menu is a double champion of the BTCC, having won the title in 1997 and 2000, the only man to achieve a double in the Super 2000 era. Current Season Menu is currently competing for CHROME Edition Restart Racing in the 2014 BTCC season. A promising start to his second comeback (which began in 2014) was sealed with a drive from fourteenth to fifth in race three at Brands Hatch's Indy circuit in the opening round.http://www.btcc.net/2014/03/30/turkington-takes-win-in-final-thriller/ Background Alain Menu began competing in single seater championships in the 1980s driving in the British Formula 3 and Formula 3000 championships.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Menu Menu progressed to the International Formula 3000 series in 1991, competing alongside another future BTCC driver, Fabrizio Giovanardi. BTCC History 1992 saw Menu obtain a seat at Team M Mobile in the BTCC, driving a BMW 318is provided by BMW. A promising debut season was cut short, however, after an accident prior to the start of the Knockhill round ended his season. Despite this, Menu still claimed ninth in the final standings, only one position behind team mate Tim Sugden. Renault Menu returned to the BTCC in 1993, now fully recovered from his accident (although an unusual complication of the accident meant that Menu could never jog for an extended time again). Renault were making their debut in the BTCC (as a factory effort) and paired reigning champion Tim Harvey with Menu in two Renault 19s. Despite a maiden victory for Menu at Donington Park, Menu and Harvey struggled in the mid pack, the 19 not being the complete package Renault had hoped for. Renault Laguna]]1994 brought Menu a new car, a Renault Laguna. Despite Alfa Romeo's dominance at the start of the season, Menu claimed a second victory at Oulton Park, before ultimately finishing second in the championship. For 1995, the Williams F1 Team took over the running of Renault's factory team. A further seven wins for Menu saw him take second in the title race again, a feat he would repeat in 1996. The Man to Beat 1997 proved to be Menu's year, as he took the title in a show of utter dominance. The first four races of the season belonged to Menu, before he took a further eight wins to take the championship. With his title secured, Menu allowed team mate Jason Plato (a rookie that year) over take him at the second Brands Hatch meeting, allowing Plato to challenge Frank Biela for second in the championship. Ultimately, 1998 would become Menu's final year in a Renault, with the Laguna's dominance over the field the previous year vanishing as the season wore on. Three wins was all that the Swiss could get out of the Laguna, prompting him to switch to Ford's factory run Mondeos the following year. Mondeo Man to the title in 2000.]]Despite the switch, 1999 proved to be a damp squib, with Menu only able to finish eleventh in the final standings, his only win coming at Knockhill. However, 2000 saw Menu return to his old ways, taking five wins against an ever diminishing field. Although Menu took the title, he left the BTCC at the end of the season, following the BTCC's restructuring to rejuvenate the series. Return Menu decided to take on new challenges in the 2000s, competing in many of Europe's other major touring car series, such as the DTM. Despite a one-off appearance for VX Racing at the end of the 2007 season to support Fabrizio Giovanardi's title bid, Menu had seemed to have left his BTCC days behind him. However, 2014 entrants CHROME Edition Restart Racing announced that Menu would be driving for them in 2014, one of seven champions competing in that year. BTCC Record A table containing 's best results in the BTCC. The figures after the information about the car used indicate 's best finish at that meeting. References Images: *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alain_Menu_2007_Pau.jpg - Menu *http://www.renaultoloog.nl/touringcars-english.htm - Leguna 1994 *http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/923849.stm - Mondeo 2000 References Category:Drivers Category:Champions Category:Current Drivers